On a whim – well, a whim that had me perusing Fabric.com for hours (one mouse click off the beaten path, and before you know it, you’re fifty pages deep in web land) – and with Scott’s approval of color and pattern, I bought one yard of each of these (top to bottom: Swavelle Water…

I got a natural-fiber circle rug from World Market for like, $6.99 when I went into college (7 years ago… gulp) and it’s still keepin’ on keepin’ on. It’s indoors but I am happy with the quality. Those outdoor rugs are made of plastic and I assume basically indestructible. I think they’re so much cheaper because they’re plastic and not wool, or natural fibers, or whatever. In fact they’re so much cheaper we have an outdoor rug in our dining room (what can I say, we are/were cheap newlyweds!!)ReplyCancel

I had an outdoor rug and it only lasted one season, and yes, it was a cheapo ;(
I’d love to be planning our outdoor space, but we have to tear down our deck and hideous patio before I can even think of the pretty things.
I have the perfect striped melamine dishes for outdoors, which means I can change my colours all the time ;)
I like your new colours, but also really like your old red style.ReplyCancel

i love that rug! i’ve been on the hunt for a yellow stripes, but no luck (in my price range) thus far. our deck is huge (300 sq/ft, our apt is only 490 sq/ft), so i try to section it off to make living, eating, and cooking areas, but it gets pricey. my biggest goal for this year is to finish the living space – nice rug, lots of pillows, comfy chairs, and a coffee table. we’ll see how far i get before the money runs out :-)ReplyCancel

Wow – thanks for cluing me in to world market! holy heavens – that’s so much cheaper than any rug i’ve been looking at. and it’s so cute! i’m heading over to their website pronto. we’re also trying to pretty up our outdoor space since we moved in when it was too cold to do anything with it.

i think all those fabrics are going to look glorious. and i do so love a cozy porch.ReplyCancel

Jen -April 26, 2012 - 1:48 PM

We did! A few weeks back I went and got some palms and geraniums for the pool deck and then we hung a string of those uber trendy clear globe lights over the patio eating area. The husband went one step further and put some net lighting we had in the garage and hooked it up into the inside of our patio umbrella. It sounds jenky but at night it glows like a lantern. And yes, we will enjoy all this for approximately 1 more month and then the hell begins that is our summer here and we will live inside most of the time. Go see here at the bottom of the page under “Backyard.
“http://sunsetsandswimmingpools.blogspot.com/p/our-desert-home.html Cheers!!ReplyCancel

We took a long weekend – leaving Thursday night for Kokomo, Indiana – for what would be a 3 day fiesta of wedding celebration and family. Scott’s brother, the youngest of the three siblings, got married in a Saturday afternoon ceremony that had me crying before his (beautiful!) lady walked down the aisle. Just watching…

Awwwww…weddings are the best aren’t they? Let’s see- What did I do worth mentioning… I bought a wonderful new pillow that I didn’t need. I got the puppies nails trimmed and I succumbed to the hell that was 105 degrees and jumped in the pool about 90 billion times. Happy Monday!ReplyCancel

It should come as no surprise that we love a good DIY. My heart goes wild when Scott reviews fabric choices with me (oh!, what have I done to him?), and a Sunday stroll through Home Depot is our idea of a great time (really). But with every project we take on, we like to…

When we were first married, Daniel & I lived in a one-bedroom apartment and definitely utilized the deck as a workspace. Luckily, we now have a one-car garage, but it’s still pretty small, and we now spread out to the deck so I can paint while Daniel works the saws and drills and whatnot in the garage.ReplyCancel

Ditto everything. Love it. I’ve lived on top of more DIY projects than I care to imagine. We’re sub-500 sq ft right now, and it just gets crazy some times. Luckily this new space has a little postage stamp backyard where I can run the saw. That’s a big help. I used to have to just try to aim the sawdust spray away from our bed as best I could (not a lick of outdoor space – up, down or out – to speak of there).

And dear god how I love a good compact wagon. We had the Toyota Matrix for many years, and that thing has held some improbable items – full size dressers, etc. We use the Mazda 5 now (dual sliding doors!) and I love it. Same concept and very parallel park-able.ReplyCancel

We’re in a similarly small space, but without any outdoor space to speak of. I admit that in a pinch, I have spray painted things in the kitchen with a lot of fans going and a window open. It has no doubt taken years off my life, but has made my apartment all the cuter.ReplyCancel

Though our last house was pretty small, we had the luxury of a big basement and a ton of outdoor space. I’m really missing that now, living in an apartment. But like you, we have a teeny patio and that’s where I’m starting my first DIY down under. I think ANY outdoor space, no matter how small, is a DIY lifesaver.

You guys have done some awesome things in your little place! It’s always refreshing to see someone’s hallway chock full of stuff mid-project.ReplyCancel

Kim S. -April 19, 2012 - 8:25 PM

It’s impressive what you can done in such a small space. We have plenty of space.ReplyCancel

Kim S. -April 19, 2012 - 8:27 PM

…meant to finish with…
but don’t get nearly as much diy done.ReplyCancel

Brady -April 19, 2012 - 11:34 PM

As someone who lives in a larger place, I am totally impressed at your ingenuity and skill and talent. WOW!!!ReplyCancel

We’re no longer small-space dwellers (moved out of SF!) but when we lived in our one-BR, we were all about foldable, stackable and storable. I bought David a foldable worktable with a built-in vise. My sewing machine is portable. The space under our couch was more or less a lumberyard. And because we didn’t have any outdoor space, we had to build put-up/tear-down time into all of our projects.

I used to joke all of our DIY was like Burning Man: leave no trace!ReplyCancel

Ha ha! When I moved back to Minnesota I lived with my brother for a few years in our grandma’s old condo. In the time I was there we replaced the carpeting with wood floors, tiled the kitchen, painted walls, and completely remodeled both the bathroom and kitchen, which involved replacing cabinets and appliances. The balcony was always a wreck because that’s where the wood/tile cutting took place. After I moved out my brother covered the standard green astro turf carpeting out on the balcony with those wooden decking tiles from Ikea. It looks so nice now. A far cry from the dirt/cement/sawdust covered balcony I had to live with!ReplyCancel

This post reminds me of the days when my husband and I lived in our 700sq foot condo in San Diego. Luckily we had two closets which one we used to store expensive road bikes, climbing, and camping gear. Since we had to share an open garage space, we locked up our less expensive bikes there, and used a metal cabinet to store more camping gear. We used storage boxes underneath our bed, because we had to share one small closet for our clothes. Now we live in a 1800sq foot house in STL, and we have more closets than I know what to do with and a garage! Living in small spaces in California (even had a 300 sq.ft studio) I learned to live a minimalist life style, which my husband and I still practice on a daily basis. It’s amazing how much stuff you really don’t need.ReplyCancel

Last week, we showed a snippet of Grandma’s chair. Yes, it had come back from the upholsterer, but there were a few finishing touches until she was studio bound. Said touches were made over the weekend, and because we’ve been losing it (in a good way) since she came home, let’s skip the before and…

Ahhhh! Kim!!! Scott!!! This looks SO GREAT!! She turned out beautifully and I agree, the piping couldn’t have been done more fantastic … nailhead may have been a bit too competitive with the rug and space (seeing how low it sits to the ground compared to your beautiful painting table). I love it!ReplyCancel

I want to call it “cantaloupe.” Looks fancy. Where do you get those rubber dots, and are they like peel & stick adhesive? I need some for underneath my kitchen table legs.

I say don’t gold-dip those chair legs, unless you paint each entire leg gold. I think doing segments of the chair legs in gold would be one too many design details and wreck the simplicity of the chair, while also competing with the desk legs for attention. Plus the wooden legs are a nice color with the melon fabric.ReplyCancel

Wow it turned out absolutely beautiful! My mom is an interior designer, and even though my parents have always been on a strict budget, she’s always gone to the pros for treasured heirloom pieces and never regretted it either. :) Love the color you chose too, I would never have thought of it! (Voted for you too!)ReplyCancel

Kalli, you can find the rubber stickies (a technical term, obviously) and a ton of other choices at any hardware store. Some you can nail into the bottom of the leg, whereas others are like a sticker.ReplyCancel

Emma -April 18, 2012 - 11:59 AM

Wow! She looks great! And you got a great deal on the upholstery job too. Esp. since they made structural repairs. That white piping is on point dude! :)ReplyCancel

I am in LURVE with that chair – with your whole studio really! It looks great!ReplyCancel

jill -April 19, 2012 - 1:22 PM

the leg stain looks so pretty w/ the coral fabric. what a sophisticated room. and i know your rug is the sophistikat but that was the best word i could think of to describe how everything has come together. bravo! hahaReplyCancel

First, thank you for all the input yesterday! Funny, I was leaning towards the yellow, but you brought up so many great points against it. And after a few of you said matchy matchy, well, you practically scared us right out of that direction. (I’ve been known to change an outfit multiple times until no…

Heather and Jill, good point, however, I think the blue is so much darker that it won’t necessarily match, but just “go.” The gold would be the same color as the print and art on the opposing wall and living room! Hmm, we’re still considering the options.